UPDATE: Elderly Nashua couple were stabbed to death

By PAT GROSSMITHNew Hampshire Union LeaderJune 19. 2013 10:44AMNASHUA – An elderly couple were stabbed to death in their Newbury Street home, authorities said today.

William Grant, 83, and his wife Eleanor, 78, whose bodies were discovered Monday by a visiting nurse, both died from stab wounds, according to results of autopsies.

New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph A. Foster and Nashua Police Chief John J. Seusing in a news release issued Wednesday said the autopsies determined the manner of their deaths is homicide and the cause is from stab wounds.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said because it is a double homicide, it is only prudent for people to exercise care "but there is no specific threat to the public at large."

The Grants' bodies were discovered about 1 p.m. Monday inside their 37 Newbury St. home by a visiting nurse who cared for Eleanor Grant, who suffered from a terminal illness, a neighbor said.

The nurse knocked on the door and, when no one answered, opened the door and called out to the couple, but got no answer, said next-door neighbor John Ferbert, who had known the Grants for 18 years.

"She went inside and she found them," Ferbert said. The visibly shaken health care worker came out and called police, he said.

Previous story follows:

NASHUA — An elderly couple described as "well-loved by everybody" in their neighborhood was found dead in their home Monday afternoon.

The bodies of William P. and Eleanor M. Grant were discovered about 1 p.m. inside their 37 Newbury St. home by a visiting nurse who cared for Eleanor Grant, who suffered from a terminal illness, a neighbor said.

The nurse knocked on the door and, when no one answered, opened the door and called out to the couple, but got no answer, said next-door neighbor John Ferbert, who had known the Grants for 18 years.

"She went inside and she found them," Ferbert said. The visibly shaken health care worker came out and called police, he said.

"Nobody can believe that this has really happened. There is no reason for it because these people were good to everybody. They would just go out of their way to say 'hi' to everybody and, if you needed a hand, they would be right there," Ferbert said.

Officials said Nashua police went to the home about 1:40 p.m. and found the bodies of two adults inside.

Late Monday night in a statement from Attorney General Joseph Foster and Nashua Police Chief John Seusing, the deaths were labeled suspicious.

Autopsies on the bodies will be done today. Authorities said they were withholding the victims' names until family members are notified.

"I don't know if they have been technically termed homicides at this point," Seusing said Monday night.

William Grant, who was at least in his 70s, was a familiar figure in the quiet neighborhood of mostly single-family homes located a few blocks from Main Street, neighbor Christine Blanchette said.

"I really liked him. I just think he was a really nice guy. I just feel bad," Blanchette said. Grant often stopped to talk during his daily walks around the neighborhood with his black-and-white Shi Tzu, Lily, she said.

"That was his buddy," she said. Police did not find the dog in the house for several hours, Blanchette said. When they did, they brought the dog to her house, where she cared for it until another neighbor took it.

The couple had been married for more than 50 years and recently celebrated a wedding anniversary, Ferbert said.

"They were good, old-fashioned Catholic people," he added.

William Grant was a retired carpenter who still did occasional odd jobs for neighbors and friends. His wife was a homemaker and suffered from a serious illness, neighbors said. She rarely ventured out of the house except when her husband took her for trips in the car, mostly to see the doctor, neighbors said.

Blanchette said police knocked on her door Monday afternoon. They asked her if she had seen or heard anything unusual. The couple kept their doors unlocked when they were home, Ferbert said. He said he last saw William Grant Saturday morning.

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